Thomas Eychenne has done it again in Barcelona. One week shy of a year after taking down the EPT Barcelona Main Event, the Frenchman beat 1,551 entries in the 2026 PokerStars Open Barcelona €2,700 high roller for $683,698 — and he closed it out by winning the last four eliminations himself.
- Thomas Eychenne won the 2026 PokerStars Open Barcelona €2,700 high roller on August 23 for $683,698.
- The event drew 1,551 entries to Casino Barcelona.
- It is his second major title at the same stop — he won the €5,300 EPT Barcelona Main Event in August 2025 for more than $1.4 million.
- Eychenne scored five of the eight final-table knockouts, including the last four in a row.
- Fellow Frenchman Virgile Turchi took a career-best $430,360 as runner-up.
- The win pushed Eychenne past $6.4 million in lifetime cashes and to within reach of the top 50 in the Card Player Player of the Year race.
On the final day of August 2025, Thomas Eychenne outlasted a field of 2,045 players in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona €5,300 no-limit hold'em Main Event, banking over $1.4 million and the biggest payday of his career. Casino Barcelona clearly agrees with him. Almost exactly twelve months later, in the very same building, the 36-year-old picked up his second major title.
Eychenne topped 1,551 entries in the 2026 PokerStars Open Barcelona €2,700 high roller on August 23, earning $683,698. It is the third-largest score of a résumé that now stands at more than $6.4 million in total cashes.
Five Knockouts, Including the Last Four
The final table belonged to Eychenne almost from the first hand. He started out in front and stayed at or near the top of the counts as nine players became five — then simply took over, ending the tournament with four consecutive eliminations.
His first scalp of the day was bracelet winner Zdenek Zizka. The Czech pro and former backgammon prodigy got his chips in with the A♣10♣ and could not outrun Eychenne's pocket nines, hitting the rail in ninth place for $62,826. In all, Eychenne collected five of the eight knockouts at the final table.
After busting Lars Tungel in third place for $307,910, Eychenne carried a 6.5:1 chip advantage into heads-up play against fellow Frenchman Virgile Turchi. It did not last long. On the final hand Turchi got it in with 10♦9♥ and ran straight into pocket queens; the overpair held, and the title was Eychenne's.
Turchi's $430,360 runner-up prize is a new career best. He had previously finished second in the France Poker Series Main Event in Monte Carlo in 2024 and fifth in this same event at EPT Paris earlier in 2026, and now has close to $2 million in lifetime cashes.
— Virgile Turchi, runner-up
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize | POY Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Eychenne | $683,698 | 1,620 |
| 2 | Virgile Turchi | $430,360 | 1,350 |
| 3 | Lars Tungel | $307,910 | 1,080 |
| 4 | Marwan Salamoun | $236,779 | 810 |
| 5 | Christian Kaufmann | $181,772 | 675 |
| 6 | Gilles Simon | $139,246 | 540 |
| 7 | Hak-Hyun Lee | $107,346 | 405 |
| 8 | David Djian | $81,664 | 270 |
| 9 | Zdenek Zizka | $62,826 | 135 |
Player Of The Year Push
The victory was worth 1,620 Card Player Player of the Year points, presented by CoinPoker. It was Eychenne's first title of 2026 and his sixth final-table finish of the year, lifting him to 3,027 total points and within striking distance of the top 50 in the standings.
No Rest For The Champion
There was no celebration break. As soon as the high roller was in the books, Eychenne fired into this year's EPT Barcelona Main Event, hoping to defend the title he won in 2025. That mission is off to a rough start: he bagged just ten big blinds at the end of day 1B.
